美国罗德岛普罗维登斯的东侧无轨电车隧道（East Side Trolley Tunnel）是世界上第一条巴士专用道，1948年该隧道由无轨电车转供巴士使用。但世界上第一座BRT系统则由加拿大渥太华的渥太华卡尔顿交通局（OC Transpo）于1973年推出。其具有BRT的的第一个要件——专用道，该专用道穿过市中心并设有站台供巴士停靠。1983年引进专用且分隔式的巴士专用道（称为“Transitway”）。1996年，最初计划长31公里的巴士专用道系统都已启用运营；且分别于2009年、2011年和2014年扩张。2019年，Transitway的中心部分已被改建为轻轨，原因是市中心区的载客量已超出原先计划所能负荷的上限[5]。
1974年巴西库里奇巴（Curitiba）启用整合交通网（葡萄牙语：Rede Integrada de Transporte）（Rede Integrada de Transporte, RIT），是世界第二座BRT系统[6]:5[7]。 BRT相关的大多数要件都是由建筑师暨时任库里奇巴市长杰梅勒纳（Jaime Lerner）首先提出[8][9]。最初只在市中心主要干道设置巴士专用道，但1980年库里奇巴BRT新增支线巴士与社区路网，更于1992年引进站外收费、封闭式车站和无阶化乘车。巴西其他BRT甚至有进一步的创新，包括在阿雷格里港采用列队行驶（三辆巴士同时进出车站但只使用一组交通灯进行控制），而圣保罗则是增建通过车道并运行特快车等不同的运行模式[10]。
在美国，BRT起于匹兹堡，1977年该市开始运营总长4.3英里的南巴士专用道（South Busway）
[11]。它的成功促成了1983年小马丁·路德·金恩东巴士专用道（ Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway ）的设置，该系统提供其中包括9.1英里（14.6公里）的巴士专用道、优先号志以及经高峰时段间隔2分钟发车的服务。在1990年全长5.1英里（8.2公里）的西巴士专用道（West Busway）开业后，匹兹堡的巴士专用道系统现已超过18.5英里长。
Cervero, Robert, The Transit Metropolis, Island Press, Washington, D.C.: 265–296, 1998, ISBN 978-1-55963-591-2, Chapter 10/Creating a Linear City with a Surface Metro: Curitiba Brazil
Lotshaw, Stephanie. Profiles of American BRT: Pittsburgh's South Busway and East Busway. Streetsblog USA. 2011-06-20 [2015-09-01]. （原始内容存档于2015-02-03）. Pittsburgh’s leadership on the urban sustainability front is not a recent phenomenon – in fact, it was the first city in the United States to implement elements of bus rapid transit, and it paved the way for more robust U.S. BRT systems. In 1977, only three years after Curitiba, Brazil implemented the world’s first BRT system, Pittsburgh opened the South Busway, 4.3 miles of exclusive bus lanes, running through previously underserved areas of the city, from the western suburbs to the downtown. The city was concerned about worsening traffic congestion, and, lacking the funds to rehabilitate the city's streetcar lines, took inspiration from Curitiba and created the South Busway. Funding for the system came from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the state of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County. The Port Authority of Allegheny County, a county-owned, state-funded agency, operates the system. The success of the South Busway helped the city leverage funding for the expansion of the network, and in 1983, the Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway opened. The East Busway began as a 6.8-mile network, with an additional 2.3 miles added in 2003, connecting the eastern suburbs with downtown. Fifteen bus routes run along its corridor. Its current weekday ridership is 25,600, with annual ridership close to 7 million. The East Busway built on the success of its predecessor and offered fundamental BRT features including a dedicated busway, service as frequent as every two minutes during peak period, signal prioritization, and direct service operations (more on that soon). However, there is no off-board fare collection. Instead, passengers pay upon entrance for in-bound trips and upon exit for outbound trips, which helps reduce delays in service because of fare collection.
Kaenzig, Robin; Mobereola, Dayo; Brader, Colin. Africa's First Bus Rapid Transit System. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2011-02-04, 2193: 1–8. ISSN 0361-1981. doi:10.3141/2193-01（英语）.
Venter, Christoffel. Assessing the potential of bus rapid transit-led network restructuring for enhancing affordable access to employment – The case of Johannesburg's Corridors of Freedom. Research in Transportation Economics. 2016, 59: 441–449. doi:10.1016/j.retrec.2016.05.006. hdl:2263/60793.
